Rep. Harman Seeks Release of AIPAC Transcripts

Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) has asked Attorney General Eric Holder to release transcripts of her recorded phone conversations:

WASHINGTON – Rep. Jane Harman asked the Justice Department to release transcripts of her recorded conversations following published reports she was caught on tape agreeing to seek leniency for two pro-Israeli lobbyists under investigation for espionage.

In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder sent Tuesday morning, Ms. Harman, the former top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said the eavesdropping on her conversations were an “abuse of power.” The California lawmaker also denied contacting law-enforcement agencies to influence the Bush administration’s investigation.

“Let me be absolutely clear: I never contacted the Department of Justice, the White House or anyone else to seek favorable treatment regarding national security cases on which I was briefed, or any other cases,” she wrote in the letter.

According to the published accounts, first reported by Congressional Quarterly, Ms. Harman appears to agree to push for leniency for the two employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in exchange for help gaining the chairmanship of the intelligence committee. The recordings were reportedly made by the National Security Agency. It isn’t clear precisely what the agency was monitoring.

I said yesterday that I thought there was something fishy about this leak and I still do… Most of the allegations in this story were reported by Time Magazine in 2006 and there doesn’t appear to be much of anything new here.